In the United States, 4.3 million people work from home at least half of the time. Although remote working offers many benefits, there are some potential drawbacks.
One of these is that there may be security challenges and data threats to your remote workers.
Do you want to learn more about cybersecurity best practices that you should follow when working remotely? Keep reading this article for everything you need to know about keeping your operations secure.
Communicate Your Data Security Policies
One of the first things you need to do when you are managing remote teams is to create and communicate your data security policies. Often, employees do not know the dos and don’ts that come when handling company data.
This means that many data breaches are due to mishandling data and incompetence and are not done intentionally.
By creating a policy that outlines your security protocols, you can discuss the types of data that cannot be shared. Plus, your employees will be more educated about the importance of digital security.
Use Cloud Services
You can also use cloud services to increase your remote business security for remote workers. Many applications, like Office 365, offer encryption and security features that make it simple to share data privately.
Cloud services also make it easier to collaborate on projects with other team members, even if you are all working in different locations.
Having the right tools, like cloud applications, can make it much easier to manage a remote team.
Use Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication can also keep your company data safe when you have remote employees. This is important for your company’s security, regardless of where your employees are working.
Multi-factor authentication requires employees to verify their identity before gaining access to company data. Some types of verification include security questions, push notifications, and passwords.
This is a simple way to strengthen your security for remote workers as you transition to remote.
This way, no one without proper authority can have access to the systems and date your remote employees have.
Set Up Password Managers & Secure Passwords
Re-using passwords for different accounts is a major risk that can lead to data loss. Often, people use passwords that are easy to guess, whether it is their name, an important date, or something else.
Having a strong password is one of the easiest steps you can take to protect your data when you work remotely. Make sure you always use different passwords for your accounts and make sure they are secure.
There are many simple changes you can make to have a strong password. This includes using numbers, punctuation marks, and capital letters to make it more difficult to guess your passwords.
While it can be difficult to keep track of many unique passwords, using something like a password manager can make it easy. While password managers, keep all of your login information in one place, they are one of the safest and secure ways to keep track of your passwords.
Discuss Common Scams
You can also protect your business from cyber threats by discussing common scams with each of your remote employees. Many cyber threats can be easily avoided if you understand these common phishing techniques.
Many times these come to your remote employees through email. Sometimes these emails include links, malicious code, and other things that can cause viruses on your computer.
You can recognize email scams if the email has minimal copy, grammar and spelling errors, requests for information, and more.
By recognizing each of these common scams, your employees can be prepared to act when they are targeted.
Use Secured Networks
Something else that can protect your work data is using a secured network. By frequently updating your network security systems, like firewalls and antivirus software, you can prevent untrusted sources from accessing your sensitive data.
Because not all networks are secured the same way, you should make sure you never use a public internet connection. This can make it easy for anyone to gain access to your information.
At home, you should also make a strong password for your router and do what you can to strengthen your Wi-Fi encryption.
Separate Work and Personal Network Use
Finally, you must keep your work and personal life separate when you have a remote workplace. Regulating the use of personal devices for remote workers can help you mitigate potential remote work security risks. This is especially helpful if personal devices do not have the right password protection or may have outdated software.
This can increase your risk of cyber threats and other data leaks.
Similarly, you must make sure your employees only keep work data on work computers. While it may seem tempting to respond to a few emails from the comfort of your home, you may be putting your company at risk.
Work computers have secure wifi-networks, anti-virus, and other precautions. However, personal computers may not have the same protections. By only using your work computer for work responsibilities, you can eliminate these risks.
Working Remotely? Improve Your Productivity
When you are working remotely, it can be difficult to keep your data private. However, by following each of these cybersecurity best practices, you can have secure communications and keep your client data safe.
Do you want help improving your remote work productivity? Remote Work Made Simple can help! Our team offers a remote work solution that helps you bridge your remote work gaps and utilize best practices for your remote web workplace setup.
Check out our website to learn more about our remote work toolkit and why work from home can benefit your business.
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